Crimson Memories
by Ao no Ryuu
Summary: He remembers the fight. He remembers almost losing her. But he can't remember this red-head who insists that they were the best of buddies. Will Renji's persistence make Ichigo remember those memories, or will it just destroy him? BoyxBoy, Mature, DLDR


**A/N: Hey peeps! Found this hanging around in some folder and thought that I should get some reviews and feedback to decide whether or not I should continue the story... I know I said I would put up a FrUk... but been a bit busy with TAFE work and all, so I shall just give you a taste of how I wrote before I started using **

**Hope you enjoy, and please R&R :) ****'Tis the main reason this has come up :P**

From as early as I can remember, I have been able to see things that others cannot. They stand by the sidewalk, deadpan gazes not seeming to notice people as they passed through them. Spirits, I guess you could call them. Some people even have the decency to call them ghosts. But I talk to them. I talk to them, play with them, even help them continue their journey into heaven, mostly by accident of course, but oh well. At least they're happy.

I guess I could say that this isn't going to be about these beings. The dead faces staring blankly at the world they used to live in. This is about somebody; somebody who changed my life in a way I had never expected. Someone I met on the streets one rainy autumn evening. Oh joy…

'Curse this rain,' I muttered, ducking under the overhanging attached to the small 24/7 barely a five minute run from home. I would have run, but the rain was heavy, and it was about as dark as night, meaning the two people I had already run into in the last ten minutes since the rain had started had seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. Oh, and I was only in light tracksuit pants and a tee. I was _not_ catching a cold now. Not when my grades really needed to be boosted again.

When it seemed the rain was not going to be letting up any time soon, I checked my pockets for the cell I usually carried with me. I came out of that empty-handed. Ok, so I wasn't going to be conning my father into picking me up. And I couldn't call Chad or that blunder-head Ishida to help. Orihime was out of the question; it was the anniversary of her brother's death, and no matter how much she would like to have helped, I knew better than to pull her away from honouring her brother and spending the time with him this day.

'Curse it all,' I muttered angrily. 'No choice but to run then.'

I was about to step back into the rain, when the doors to the 24/7 opened up and a loud voice called out, 'Oy, Ichigo.'

I looked back over my shoulder, and straight into the fist of Arizawa Tatsuki. Normal greeting, at least when she knew I was about to do something stupid like try to run the five minutes back to my place in rain falling almost as heavily as a waterfall. Clutching a hand to my nose, I gave her a look that asked, w_hat was that for_?

She understood me, as always. 'You were about to step back out into that rain, thinking you could make it back home before the hail got round.'

'Hail?' I somehow managed to mumble around the slow trickle of blood that was slipping into my mouth.

'Didn't you hear thickhead?' Indicating with her head at the store, she said, 'they said that the chance of hail was gonna be higher if the rain didn't let out by six. And from what I can tell,' Arizawa glanced at her watch, and smiled. 'There is about two minutes left until then, and well.' She held her hands out into the rain and tilted her head, frowning. 'Here comes the hail.'

As if on cue, I heard the tell-tale patter as hail attacked the ground behind me. Stepping further under the hanging, I muttered a string of curses, each accompanied by a heavy punch to my shoulder from Tatsuki until I could think of no more. Wiping the light amount of blood from my nose on my tracksuit, I did a quick check to see if any more of the metallic tasting blood was itching to creep into my mouth. Thankfully, the flow had slowed to less than a trickle, even though that was all it had been to begin with, and only a couple of drops proceeded to drip down into my mouth.

'Sorry 'bout that Ichigo.' Her mumble almost went unheard, but I smiled, patting her shoulder. 'Acted first, thought later.'

'It's cool.'

'Pfft, whatever. Catch you later,' Arizawa called, raising a hand as she trudged back into the store.

'Yeah, see you tomorrow.'

I heard her chuckle at that, followed by the click of the store doors shutting behind her. I glanced back out into the rain, craning my neck slightly to see if the clouds were lightening at all. No matter how much I would have tried though, what with night-time practically upon me, I would not have been able to tell as to whether the rain was going to let up or get heavier, or even if the hail was going to stop.

With all of my 'cloud-watching', I did not see the person run out of the rain until we were both lying on the ground, his body completely covering mine. One minute, I had started to dry up, next… Drenched in rain once again, but only because of this one idiot that had decided to tackle me, completely unexpectedly, to the ground.

'Oy,' I mumbled, trying to lift the body off of me. For a moment, he didn't respond and I began to fear that he had been knocked out when we fell. Then his arms moved and he was lifting himself off me. I guess I could say I was shocked when I saw the face of the person who had slammed me to the ground.

At first, all I saw was bright red hair falling down in a cascade over his face. I mean, my hair colour was different, orange, and not dyed as I often told the new teachers, and even some of the old ones, at school. But bright red? And then he shifted his head slightly, and I saw straight into the dark brown, almost black eyes that were curiously gazing at me.

I swallowed… almost gulped I guess you could say. The eyes were curious, yeah, but deeper, there was something almost… hungry. I was glad that I did not blush easily and could keep a bland face real easy, as those eyes were getting to me. Even my stupid heart seemed to pound faster under his inquisitive gaze.

The redhead lifted himself a little higher off me, and I could see the smirk on his face. It was almost as though he knew what I was feeling, even though he should not be able to see behind my mask. I glared up at him, hoping that he would eventually get off. For some reason, the usual outcries I would make weren't coming today, and the longer I glared at him, the blanker my mind became.

Finally, something came. 'Where on earth were you looking when you ran into me? Are you blind?'

'Oh sorry, I thought that your hair was the front light of the store.' His smirk widened as my glare darkened. For a moment neither of us moved, but eventually, he seemed to give in with a shrug. That is, until he stuck his fist into my stomach as he pushed himself up, winding me completely. As I shot into a sitting position, wheezing and glaring through teary eyes at the guy, I could see that his smirk had widened into a half-grin.

'What's wrong light-bulb? Run out of air trying to sit up?'

I snarled at him, about to throw a punch, when something hard hit my head. Once again, I was lying on the stone cold ground, but this time, when I looked up, I nearly groaned.

'WHY DO I FIND MY DELINQUENT SON LYING AROUND ON THE GROUND WITH SOME OTHER MAN?'

'What does it matter to you who I lie on the ground with?' I replied, trying not to yell back at my idiot father. Then it clicked. What was my father doing here? 'Why are you here?'

'Dinner,' he replied, straightening until he towered over the redhead and I. He held out a bag of tinned food, and some random veggies and meat, and then, predictably, dropped it onto my stomach. I dropped my head back onto the ground, grimacing in agony, but not letting the other two have the pleasure of hearing me cry out.

'Get up,' father continued, walking out into the rain, lifting an umbrella up over his head and stomping out into the rain. He didn't wait for me, so instead I waited until he was gone before sitting up and placing the groceries next to me. I heard the guy try to muffle his laughter, and I snapped.

I dived at the guy, aiming to wipe the smirk straight off his face. He saw me coming at him, another smirk crossing his face as he held up a hand, catching mine in his. What happened next, still confuses me.

Instead of throwing me away as any other fighter would, he pulled me closer, holding my hand close to his shoulder so I could not pull away. Usually, I would be able to twist away from this sort of grip, but his other hand caught the bottom of my shirt and dragged me straight onto him. Seeing an opening as I was pulled towards him, I caught hold of the bottom of his jacket with my spare hand, pulling myself around him, momentarily surprising him.

Did I mention it was only momentarily?

The smirk was back on his face as he slammed my shoulders onto the ground, something cracking underneath me. I don't think that I was to have any breath this evening as once again, oxygen left my lungs quicker than a bullet from a gun. Holding me down with one hand placed on my chest, he stared into my eyes, the curiousity back, the hunger gone, and seemed to search for something in my eyes.

He closed his eyes, letting a soft sigh escape, then flicked his hair away, showing black tattoos that snaked away from his eyebrows. I might have seen things though as the next minute, his head was next to mine as he whispered, 'I don't know why you can't recognise me, light-bulb. Guess I'll be seeing you around, if only to help you remember me.'

Then something wet slid over my ear. Slamming my head into his, making him fall away, removing his hand from my chest, I was able to scoot away, rubbing my ear and shouting, 'What the hell was that for?'

The redhead smiled; a genuine smile, not one of those dirty smirks or half-grins. Then it was gone, replaced by a smirk when he licked his lips. It was then that I realised what the wet thing was. 'Just getting a feel for you again, light-bulb.'

Although I had been able to keep a relatively straight face until then, the last comment threw my mask and I blushed. Out of embarrassment or disgust, I would never know. But what did he mean by 'again'? And was I supposed to know him? I sat there stunned until the 24/7's doors opened and the redhead got up to leave. 'If you ever need me,' the redhead added before walking into the rain which had slowed to a drizzle somewhere between when my father had left and now. 'The name's Renji Abarai. Don't forget it, pretty-boy.'

I would have thrown some comment back at him, had it not been for the lack of comments and the one that came from Tatsuki standing next to me. 'Oh don't worry, he will forget, especially if I have anything to say about it.' She called out a string of rude names after him, making him smile. As he left, he raised a hand, just like what Tatsuki had done just before he had run into me.

When he was finally out of hearing range, or so we hoped, Tatsuki glared down at me, asking in her most demanding voice, 'What on earth happened?'

I was lost for words. I was still in shock after what the redhead – who I now knew as Renji – had said, and so all I could say was, 'You tell me.'

**How did it go? You like? If you like, I might even think of putting the prologue of the Pirating life of England (my FrUk... don't worry, the title might change...)**

**Yes, I am teasing, but that is what I do best :P And if there are some likes of this, I would be quite happy to continue writing up the story!**


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